The Trojan Women was one of a trilogy of plays dealing with the suffering created by the Trojan Wars. Hecuba, Queen of the Trojans and mother of Hector, one of Troy's most fearsome warriors, looks upon the remains of her kingdom; Andromache, widow of the slain Hector and mother of his son Astyanax, believes that she must raise her son in the war's aftermath; however, Talthybius, the messenger of the Greeks, comes to the ruined city, and tells them that King Agamemnon and his brother Menelaus have decreed that Hector's son Astyanax must die — the last of the male royalty of Troy must be executed to ensure the extinction of the line. Cassandra, Hecuba's daughter who has been driven insane by the ravages of war, waits to see if King Agamemnon will send her into concubinage, while Helen of Troy, waits to see if she will live.
